A very moving tribute.

Yeah but was he fat?

I mention that only to be amazed how you can be a dick in another area and then write such a wonderful piece (except the "cocksucking" part) here about a friend.

It's freaky sick isn't it? I've worried along with families who haven't heard form loved ones for months and months and months. I've talked to a couple of families who lost loved ones in war (even if ithappene din Vietnam the feeling is just eerie, mixed with pride). I don't have friends over there myself (nor acquaintances that I'm aware of) - just the way it worked out I guess. But if I did I'd be worried to distraction every single day.

thanks HW and very very sorry for all involved - you made it very real

Temple, people are complicated

>>Temple, people are complicated

News at 10 :-)

Working through contradictions is a life's work

Naw TS he wasn't fat. And,hey man I did
try to sincerely apologize about that
bit of stupidity on my part anyways. No
one wanted to accept it but,I did try to
apologize and it was very sincere. Also,
the lambasting I got from several folks
was much more vile and offensively worse
than my original answer ever was.I don't
feel like arguing just now any kind of
ways. Just know this is closer to me,
the real me,than that smart alecky type
of answer was, OK?

It was just a complete f'ing shock to
find this out man. Just don't seem real.
That's about all I can say. He was my
buddy and now well.... He'll always be
my friend. It was very surreal to see a
friend, someone you knew well on the CNN
news and to find out how violently he
died. There wasn't enough left of him to
bother with sending home his pops told
me. I almost had to vomit after I found
THAT out. I'm an extremely sad person
today, I must admit. Thanks for reading
too y'all, I appreciate it.

Temple Stark, Listen,Please do not take
my usage of the term "C**ksucking" to
heart OK?. Please. It was not any kind
of an assault on anyone's sexuality or
anything even close to that believe me.

'Twas just a curse term.It could of been
any number of words ike: "Motherf**king"
or "Goddamned" or etc etc etc. You get
the picture I'm sure. When I wrote that
I was vacillating between rage at some
sort of an enemy I cannot strike out at
and a very deep sadness and shock at the
loss a good friend who was needlessly
killed by filthy friggin' animals.

I just tried to write what I was feeling
at that second and that was the word I
chose. At another time it would likely
have been another profane verbal assault
of some sort,different but with the same
underlying emotion. Peace.

I take things to heart deep as well. I understand. I do.

I think I'd be raging hard as well, though I don't think i would have been able to get my fingers to function on the keyboard.

i didn't take it any other way. The word jumped out and seemed out of place. But a lot of things do these days. Keep your writing talents going. Take a breath before posting and type it all out elsewhere. It all gives you time to pause and reflect on what you're doing. I do that often and often the inner rage disipates. Not always.

Temple "unasked for advice" Stark

TS,Thanks man.Simply,thanks.I appreciate
any and all advice I get. It was a very
cathartic post for me and if I didn't
get it out it would've been eating me up
all day long.And then some.

I found your blog when I did a search for Stan Lapinski. I never met him, but his name & info was passed on to me through a friend of his from the Savannah area with USO. I started writing to him & sending care packages in Feb.

It was nice to read all of your memories about him since I never really knew him. He seemed like such a great person. In fact, I was diagnosed with cancer back in April & when he found out, he sent a card and had all the guys in his unit sign it. That really brighten my spirits!

I am sorry for your loss. I just wanted to connect with you after reading your blog.
Take Care-
Angela Pastore

Hi Angela. Thanks for writing. How are you feeling first off? Are you doing the Chemo and stuff? I just got done going through that with my mother as she had Colon cancer. I hope you are feeling well. Stan was a super nice guy. I know him from Las Vegas where I live and where Stan lived for a long time before joining the service. It was really sad about Stan and all of us here who knew him were pretty much freaked out about it to say the least. It was beyond weird to see your friend on National TV as a war casualty. That was real nice of Stan to be in touch with you like that. It was not of character for him to be sure. He'll be missed I dunno what else to say there. Hey, keep in touch and write back if you want. What part of the country do you live in? You're not out here in Nevada are you?

Hello H.W.
Stan is my wife's cousin... actually second cousin to be exact. Thank you for giving us another side of how this has affected people. Your post along with all of the reflections on him about him given during the reception following his burial at Arlington makes me amazed at the man he was. Dispite having never met him myself, his death has affected me as well. ... it is strange to think that you can miss someone you have never met.
Thanks again.

Hi there- Thanks for writing. Chemo is going OK. I have my 7th (out of 12) treatment tomorrow. It's rough, butit could be so much worse...you know? How is your mother?

This past weekend I was in Baltimore visiting some friends and we spent the day in DC. My mom's uncle was just buried in Arlington last month, so we stopped by & I looked up Stan's grave. I have some pictures if would like them. (I don't know if that would be uncomfortable...) The stone is not up yet, but there is a marker. It was very sad to be there, but I am glad that I went. I also mailed copies of the letters that Stan sent me to his parents. He always refered to them as the greatest parents a person could have & I felt like it woud be nice for them to have. I just received a card from them, which was good b/c I just looked up their names on the internet...hoping I had the correct address. I can't imagine what they are going through.

I am actually in GA...north of Atlanta, so pretty far from Las Vegas ;)

I hope that you are doing well. Talk to you soon.
Angela